To survive, organizations must execute in the present and adapt to the future. This is especially true in the development and nurturing of new products. The simple truth, however, is that most new products fail despite all the sweat equity, the millions of data points examined, and all the querying of consumer targets. If we are to change this, we must become better quantitative observers and weavers of what attitudinal and behavioral information portends. We must listen to both societal trends and the public as contributors to new product ideas, services, and features.

Comprehensive New Product Program
Knowledge Networks tunes into consumers through our new product program. We use the best methods and resources to quantify the beliefs and behaviors that drive consumer choice.

The notion of "new listening" starts with not analyzing information in a piecemeal fashion, but instead gaining actionable marketing information in the business context, including drivers of behavior across product introductions. KN works to alter the following reality:

• Most new products fail in introduction
• Even if new products pass into research and launch, most don't last past a year
• The cost of new product failure is billions of dollars
• New products fail due to:
  1. Lack of actionable retail and consumer information that quantifies consumer in-store behavior, married with consumer focused quantification of needs states
  2. Effective target audience assessment
  3. Timely information that will enable companies to refine strategies and tactics before retailer de-listing caused by lack of consumer purchase or interest

The big idea KN brings is the integration of behavioral and attitudinal views throughout the new product assessment process, the details of which are depicted in this chart.

This comprehensive program can refer to an all-channel view or to specific channels for execution and analysis.

A further component of KN's new product program is a comprehensive understanding of the reasons for brand trial and repeat purchase so that KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are in place. These metrics could include but are not limited to:

• Saw a TV commercial for it
• It was on sale
• Had a coupon for it
• Saw a special promotion in the store for it
• Saw an ad in a magazine for it
• Wanted to try something new

Please see our fact sheet for more information on new product development and evaluation -- including our approach to early stage ideas, late stage concepts, behavioral analysis, and in-market testing.

Read Our Perspective >>

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